Flawed
by PearlQ19
Summary: A rewrite of the ending of the episode where Max sees Zack again for the first time. Mostly conversation, actually. Just go and RR


Flawed 

A/N: They recently started reruns of "Dark Angel" and I decided to watch it. That's why I'm so late with this story. This is set immediately after the episode where Max first sees Zack again (quite early in season 1; I don't know the English title of the episode, but you'll know which one I mean….). This is actually just a rewrite of the ending. I'd love to know what you think, and as always tell me about any mistakes you may spot. Now for the story.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Max jogged along beside Zack. Neither of them was becoming short of breath or weakening otherwise. Two perfect soldiers escaping their creators. They stayed in motion until their sharp ears could no longer hear their pursuers. Only then did they stop.

"They lost us," said Zack. "We should hurry, though."

"Hurry?" Max asked.

"Yes," said Zack. "We gotta get out of here. As fast as possible. I know a guy who can help us make it to San Francisco. And there we'll separate."

"Separate?" Max went pale. "No!" 'I just found you," she added silently. 'I've been looking for you for ten years. Don't leave me again...'

"Of course we'll separate," Zack reiterated. "It's too dangerous if we stay together."

"Dangerous...?" Max was so stunned she could not think clearly.

"Yes," said Zack impatiently. "Did you forget they're after us?"

"After us..." Max parroted. 'Think, Max,' she scolded herself. 'He must think you're a prize idiot!' She finally managed to pull herself together. "We've got to find the others," she implored. "It is possible - you found me, too!"

Zack laughed shortly, and it sounded almost like a bark. "I know it's possible, Max," he said. "I've known for a long time you were in Seattle. I've watched over you. I've watched over all of them."

Max was suddenly electrified. She felt as if her hair would stand on end. Her throat became dry, and she swallowed. Her heart, her strong, resistent, perfect heart, beat wildly against her ribcage.

"You're kidding," she whispered. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you contact me earlier? If you watched me, you must have known how I struggled to track them down - and all I found was you, and I suppose I only managed to because you let me."

"Not quite," Zack admitted. "You found out where I lived. I hadn't planned to reveal my identity to you when I became 'Sam'." His features, which had softened for a split second, hardened once more. "Anyway," he said, "it's better for all of us if we don't know where all the others are. And you're no longer safe here."

Max straightened. "I won't leave," she said firmly. "This is my home. I have friends here, people I care about. They're my family..." She faltered. "I once thought you were my family, too," she added silently.

Zack snorted. ""Family," he said disparagingly. "I don't care about family. I'm a soldier; I've no time to be sentimental. And you're a soldier, too, Max."

"I may have been created to be a soldier," Max answered, ""but first and foremost, I'm a woman. I'm human, Zack, even if I was created, not conceived. I won't leave Seattle. I won't come with you, Zack."

"You let your feelings control your brain," Zack warned.

"I know," Max answered. She raised her chin and looked directly in Zack's eyes. "You still stand behind Manticor," she said. "But I don't. I don't want to be a soldier - I never did. I'm not letting Lydecker catch me, but I won't leave the city, either."

"Because you have friends here," Zack said thoughtfully. "And I always thought you were flawless."

Max gasped. "If flawless means to have no feelings, then I'm happy not to be," she hissed. "It's that flaw, as you call it, that makes me what I am! Deal with it, Zack! You don't want a flawed soldier, you go and never again waste a thought on me..." She felt tears well in her eyes, but she fought them back. The last thing she wanted was to display even more weaknesses to Zack.

Zack looked at her long and intensely without speaking. Max started to feel uncomfortable. She did not know what was going on in his head, Therefore she was most surprised when Zack's expression suddenly softened. He stretched out his hand and took her chin softly between his fingers. His thumb briefly stroked the side of her face.

"They did a good job with you, Max," he said silently. "And I mean it. You're not the soldier I remember, but they did a good job. Even if you're flawed," he added, but his words were accompanied by a smile.

Max looked into his face, and for a long moment their eyes locked. Perfection met perfection. Then the moment was gone, and Max allowed herself to let her "flaw" show one last time. She clasped both arms around Zack's neck, hugging him hard. She buried her face in his shoulder and deeply inhaled his smell.

"Farewell, my brother," she whispered, her stifled voice barely audible. "I thought I'd found you, but in fact I lost you for good, didn't I?"

"You'll never lose me, Max," said Zack softly. He hugged her back, and Max was surprised at the gentleness she detected in his gesture. Maybe Zack was not flawless, either. But she did not say so.

In a dark side street in Seattle, Max and her long lost brother and friend were holding each other for an endless moment, saying farewell.

When they finally let go of each other, nobody spoke. Max swallowed hard, but she did not cry. At least not yet.

"Take care, Max," said Zack. He briefly stroked her cheek.

"You too, Zack." Max's voice was hoarse.

Zack turned around and started to walk away. For a moment, Max stood frozen to the ground, but then she ran after him. Zack stopped when he heard her.

"Forgot something?" he asked.

Max nodded. She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket und scribbled down her code and her address. Then she shoved it into Zack's hand.

Zack frowned. "You know I won't use it," he said.

"I know," said Max quietly, "but at least I did everything I could."

She put her hand on Zack's cheek and pulled his face close to hers. The chaste kiss she placed on the corner of his mouth was both closure and promise. Then Max turned around and went into the opposite direction. When she looked back after a few seconds, Zack was gone, and there was not a trace of him left.

**xxxxx**

Blinded with tears, Max did not notice she was heading for Logan's until she arrived there. When she stood in front of the building, she heaved a deep sigh. 'Pull yourself together,' she thought to herself. 'You're not the center of the world.'

She wiped her face with her sleeve to erase all the visible traces of her emotional confusion. Then she entered the house.

She found Logan in his equipment room. He was staring blankly at the wall, apparently deep in thought. His slacked shoulders and bent head suggested that he was gloomy, too. Max lingered in the doorway for a moment, uncertain whether she should go or stay. After all, Logan had once again been disappointed by his ex wife.

Max had just decided to turn around and leave again when Logan turned his wheelchair around and offered her a faint smile. "Why don't you come in, Max?"

"I..." Max trailed off and entered the room instead. She closed the door behind her and crossed the room until she stood beside Logan. She leaned against one of the tables and rested one foot against one of the wheels on Logan's chair.

For a few seconds, no one spoke. Then Logan asked quietly: "Zack?"

Max sighed. "He wasn't what I'd hoped."

Logan nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."

"I set all my hopes in him," Max said tonelessly.

"And now you feel even more alone than before," Logan added.

Max raised her eyes until she met his gaze. "Yes," she said. "Isn't it strange, Logan? I spent half of my life looking for this man. But now that I found him, it's as if I've been chasing a phantom."

"You hadn't seen him for ten years," Logan reminded her. "Don't you think you may have idealized him a little?"

"I sure as hell did," Max said bitterly. "Zack was supposed to be my knight in white armor. I'd figured once I'd found him, everything would be easy. We would never part again and find the others in no time. And eventually, the twelve of us would be together again." She laughed brusquely, but without humor. "What a naїve child's dream, isn't it, Logan?"

"There is nothing naїve to it," Logan said gently.

Max swallowed. "Oh yes, there is," she said. "Zack is still a soldier. And he thinks feelings are a kind of flaw. He almost laughed at me when I said I didn't want to leave Seattle 'cause I had friends here..."

"Max," Logan interrupted her. "Don't you let yourself influence by his words. I'm sorry for him if he thinks feelings are a flaw and nothing more. And besides, he's wrong. You _are _flawless, Max."

Max looked at him, and he returned her gaze. They looked at each other, and for a moment it seemed as if the air was electrically charged between them. Then the moment was gone, and Max sighed.

"Let's no longer talk about Zack. He left again. He's now probably on his way to San Francisco." She glanced at Logan. "How's your wife?"

"Ex wife," Logan corrected. "She's fine, I hope."

"She also wasn't what you expected," Max assumed.

"Oh no," said Logan. "She never is. This I learned years ago. I guess I was never in my life lonelier than during this marriage."

"So I guess we are both equally lonely now," said Max. "And there's only one way to get over it."

She got up, took the handles of Logan's wheelchair and pushed the chair forward. "Let's go out!"


End file.
